Lunesdale Drinker - Issue 17 - Jan/Feb/Mar 2013 by Capital Media

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Issue 17 | January - March 2013

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Inside... Locals at the Local LocAle scheme is up and running. WWW.L U NES DALECAMRA .O R G .UK

Plenty on Tap

New bar broadens beer horizons.

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Let’s drink a toast.

BROAD MIND & WELCOMING PALATE The Editor makes a case for opening the mind when it comes to new beer experiences

or three years I organised the branch’s Dark & Winter Ales Festival. In part this was an attempt to right the bias in pubs towards pale beers that exists for the rest of the year. While the majority supported this showcasing of dark styles I was surprised – and irritated - by a grumbling minority of CAMRA members who protested that they didn’t like them. Of course, if pushed we’ll all admit to particular favourites. Mine happen to be well-hopped session bitters (see Hopping mad (still) in this issue) but I hope I’m broad minded enough to want to try all beers of quality, especially if they’re new to me. As campaigners we have a duty to be positive and welcoming when it comes to promoting a whole range of beers and styles, from the “mainstream” to the exotic. And perhaps we should start by overcoming our own prejudices. One of these is the negative attitude in some quarters to “craft beers”. The term could apply generally to any beer that’s handcrafted rather than produced in industrial quantities as a soulless commodity by a mega brewing corporation. More specifically we are talking about beers, often of US origin but actually international, which don’t use cheap adjuncts like corn and rice, which are often malty and heavily hopped, and brewed with “attitude, passion and respect for beer” (the Alabama Birmingham Weekly).

The exciting new arrival on the district’s pub scene, Lancaster’s Tap House (see the piece in this issue), offers drinkers a great opportunity to try these bold brews on draught, together with a phenomenal range of bottled beers and lagers. Surely only the narrowest of minds could fail to welcome such a development. Of course, CAMRA’s core commitment will always be to cask conditioned real ale. But it will find itself in a historical backwater if it fails to embrace the new developments in quality brewing (and drinking) that are sweeping the world. This is really a plea for adventurousness as opposed to conservatism. A different kind of boldness prompted Steve Hunt to buy and bring back from the dead the historic Golden Ball pub, transforming it into a thriving and expanding familyowned inn for a new generation of drinkers to experience (see the feature in this issue). Drinkers in Lunesdale owe Steve a big vote of thanks. Talking of the Lunesdale scene, it’s great that a LocAle scheme (see article in this issue) is now up and running, where beers brewed on our doorstep can get the focus and promotion they deserve. All the above show the power of creative thinking in the world of beer, whether it be brewing, selling or imbibing. We should reject ale dogmatism. Let’s drink a toast to open minds and bold palates instead. Issue17 |

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LUNESDALE’S DARK & WINTER WARMER FESTIVAL 28th January - 10th February 2013

he Dark and Winter Warmer festival will once again be running across the whole of Lunesdale Branch in 2013. At time of going to press we hope to have between 30 and 40 pubs participating from Garstang up to Tewitfield and Heysham across to Clapham. It will take place for 2 weeks from Monday 28th January to Sunday 10th Feb with participating pubs showcasing a range of dark and winter warmer ales which are so suitable for the chillier weather and popular this time of year. Local breweries are going the extra firkin and producing some special beers for the festival which will be available in a number of participating pubs. Kirby Lonsdale will be making Dark Arts, a dark lager at 4.8% and hoping to reprise the WDA - Winter Dark Ale 6.2%. Old School Brewery have promised a yet to be created dark and rich special for the new term which will be devised

with suggestions from the members of CAMRA. Hawkshead are hoping to make a couple of barrels of the rare Brodie’s XXXB 8.5% available. Lancaster and Cross Bay Breweries are also planning on doing festival specials. There are a number of events in the pipeline such as tastings, brewery tours and a beer of the festival vote. The launch night on Monday the 28th will be at the White Cross with representatives from the supporting breweries present and a closing event at the Water Witch when the beer of the festival will be announced. Full details of the participating pubs, special beers and events will all be available on The Branch Web Site www. lunesdalecamra.org.uk and facebook page as they become available and updates from members of their favourite tipples will be posted throughout the festival.

Branch Contacts Chairman Jenny Greenhalgh Vice Chairman Bob Smith

Branch Secretary Martin Sherlock T: 01524 66131 Email: drinker@lunesdale camra.org.uk

Treasurer Ann Tanner Media & Publicity Ofﬁcer Julian Holt T: 01995 600848

PUBLISHED BY Capital Media Group 2 Halifax Court, Fernwood Business Park Cross Lane, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, NG24 3JP t: 01524 220 230 • e: lunesdaledrinker@thisiscapital.com www.thisiscapital.com

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in articles are those of individual contributors and are not necessarily the views of the Lunesdale Branch, The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. Lunesdale CAMRA accepts no liability in relation to the accuracy of advertisements; readers must rely on their own enquiries. It should also be noted that acceptance of an advertisement in this publication should not be deemed an endorsement of quality by Lunesdale CAMRA. © MMXII Capital Media Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted, reproduced, recorded, photocopied or otherwise without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

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Taken at the Morecambe Beer Festival

CAPTION COMPETITION 2 Win a Gallon of Beer at the Tap House, courtesy of Martin Hulland

ave a look at the accompanying photograph taken at the Morecambe Beer Festival and send us an appropriate caption or speech bubble(s). A prize will be awarded for the most amusing/ inventive entry. This time it is a gallon of beer at the Tap House, courtesy of Martin Hulland. Email your caption by 25th February 2013 to editor@lunesdalecamra.org.uk.

band “Who gave the der Tra PINTS of Baltic ” Imperial Stout?

No entries accepted from anyone connected with producing the Lunesdale Drinker or on the Morecambe Beer Festival committee. The winner will be contacted by email and the result will be announced in the next issue. The Editor’s decision is final.

The prize for last issue’s competition of a £20 Water Witch voucher courtesy of Emma May, goes to Chris Smith for the above caption. Many thanks to those who sent entries.

WHAT’S ON?

For further information about any of these CAMRA events, contact secretary@lunesdalecamra.org.uk

JANUARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FEBRUARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Saturday 12 : 8pm : Hike & A Pint, around Settle. Joint with Keighley & Craven. Catch 10:49 train from Lancaster.

Tuesday 12 : 8pm : Branch Meeting, Royal (Morecambe) Friday 22 : Trip to Bank Top Brewery (Bolton). For a place on the coach contact Keith Knight on 01524 413346.

Monday 14 : 8pm : Branch Meeting, Snug (Carnforth) followed by a talk on “Micropubs of England” by Gregg Beaman. A coach will run with sufficient demand: Contact Martin on 01524 66131 Monday 28 Jan - Sunday 10th Feb : Dark & Winter Ales Festival. 6

MPETITION 1

CAPTION CO

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MARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wednesday 13 : 8pm : Branch Annual General Meeting, Borough (Lancaster)

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Traditional Real Ales

Westmorland CAMRA POTY 2011 8

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Newcastle

TADDY’S TRAVELS Journeys to the North East and Merseyside in search of a quiet pint by Tadeusz Szczepanski

ewcastle: In the beautiful station bar, a pub held back from greatness because of the canned music and TV screens, they’ve moved the real ale pumps to the fringes of the bar, promoting the lagers to centre stage. But still, it’s somewhere where they don’t mind my children. My girls are civilised teenagers (it’s their Dad you need to keep an eye on), yet we are barred from socialising as a family in Ember Inns, Wetherspoons, John Barras and many other chains, without ordering “food”, as if a reheated ping-ping oven meal might turn me into a more conscientious father. Durham: I struggle with a bus driver’s accent, and follow his directions to the pub more from his gestures than his words. She walked into The Colpitts looking as tall, confident, sexy and dangerous as she ever was, wearing a red and white check cotton thigh-length dress with little bows on the sleeves and at the back of her waist. The lone middle-aged men looked almost shyly down when she clonked erectly to the bar to ask the barmaid if she could close the window. The Sam Smith’s Stout is refreshing, and the conversation flows with a sociability that many pubs claim without possessing. Ormskirk: A town which doesn’t know whether it wants to be posh or common, seems to be aiming at that specialised niche market of visitors who like to be drenched in canned music. It’s in the café where we have lunch, it’s in the precinct, and The Buck I’Th’ Vine, an old pub built for sociability, is now run by someone who pumps rock music into every room and

into the garden. Urgent but silent bulletins of destruction, death and mendacity (i.e., “the news”) glare from TV screens. In the Queen’s Head, the men round the bar display the most distinctive characteristic of Scousers after their accent: thinking their banter funnier than it is. Even in the farthest corner of the garden, someone informs us repeatedly that he is nark nark narking on heaven’s door, while we try to enjoy the Pheonix beer. Burscough: The place oozes Conservatism. Wooden signs in the gardens of detached houses built on what was a green belt complain about the threat to the green belt. Of course, the homeowners wouldn’t vote for any party interested in the things they are complaining about. Plumply busty middleaged women in billowing blouses get out of the car before men in beige slacks, both beaming like a couple glad to have found each other in clothes that indicate a liking for “normal” food. In the Hop and Vine, the Burscough beers are the best of the day, and in the garden we find the first place without canned music. In Lancaster, I sit outside the White Cross (for reasons you might now guess) with a gorgeous Lytham Dark, glad to see that at least one pub knows that a Stout is not just for Christmas. Tadeusz’s forebears arrived in England after fleeing with a sack of beetroot and a bottle of carrot vodka from the Prussian Mangelwurzel Wars of the mid C19th, a conflict almost entirely overlooked in conventional histories of Central Europe.

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The Direct Debit Guarantee • This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debits. • If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. • If you request The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request. • If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society. - If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when The Campaign For Real Ale Ltd. asks you to. • You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

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Cross Bay’s Nick Taylor sampling the brew

BREWER AT BAY George Palmer braves the storm to take a magical brewery tour

s the wind swirled and the rain danced with the tumbleweed on White Lund, your faithful newshound braved the elements in search of a gathering of a secretive sect performing strange and magical rituals. My guide and taxi driver seemed reluctant to get too close to the only lit building on the industrial estate, leaving me to brave the elements for the last hundred yards as the vehicle screeched away, the driver crossing himself and muttering prayers. Finally the door opened and the dark and cold were replaced by light and warmth of the MBW lobby. I could hear the mumble of my quarry behind another door and cautiously entered the room. The incense of new paint mingled with hops and barley to give an intoxicating effect. Yes, I was here in the heart of the coven, in Cross Bay Brewery’s very recently opened visitors’ centre. The Head Witch, Nick Turner, and two of his familiars were dispensing the magic potions to their followers. The regulars,

Nightfall, Dusk, Halo, Sunset and the prize winning Zenith were joined by the seasonal Aurora. All the beers were on tip top form and by the time the High Wizard led his flock into the temple that held the brewery, their magical effects were becoming apparent. During the tour of the inner sanctum Nick cast his spell on the flock muttering magical words about grist mills and FVs, mash tuns and coppers. Whilst keeping the forbidden secrets of his potions, he gave hints to the entranced gathering of disciples of what the ingredients of his concoctions do to give the elixirs their final taste. After the exploration and explanation more spells were cast and the once empty table in the visitors centre brimmed with all manner of tasty treats to compliment the liquid ambrosias dispensed from the casks. Many thanks to Nick, his brewing team and the MBW staff for a wonderful evening. When’s the next one Nick?

Own or manage a pub or bar? The Lunesdale Drinker is the only local magazine to reach more than 6000 discerning real ale drinkers and pubgoers in North Lancashire. Best of all, advertising costs as little as £3.45 per week.

Call 01524 220 230 or visit www.lunesdaledrinker.com

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The Golden Ball, Snatchems

GOOD AS GOLD Jenny Greenhalgh celebrates a legendary local drinking spot, winner of the branch’s Most Improved Pub award 2012

he Golden Ball at Snatchems is very visible across the River Lune but getting there can be a problem at high tide. And its isolated location poses challenges in an age when getting from A to B on the fastest road seems a popular obsession. But this 16th Century Grade II listed treasure demands to be visited and supported. In the early days of CAMRA the by-pass road had not been built, so traffic on its way to Overton could be a distraction. But now it is in a wonderfully peaceful setting and I’ve spent many a happy hour sitting outside in the sunshine with a few pints of Mitchell’s beer. There are breathtaking estuary views and when the tide is out it is a birdwatcher’s paradise. For over 30 years Fred Jackson, a much respected landlord, ran the pub. He was quite a character, and tested early CAMRA members on what makes a good pint. He took the Golden Ball in July 1957 and stayed till 1989. This tiny pub has three rooms that are linked by a central servery. There used to be coal fires in each room, but the one in the lounge on the right has gone and a log burner now heats the room on the

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left. A small fireplace in the middle snug has also gone. Steve Blane, who took over after Fred, had a catering background. Steve introduced a restaurant service upstairs and encouraged jet and water skiers to use the pub. The range of drinks expanded, but the bout of sophistication did not last and the pub gently returned to being a rural retreat with the odd fisherman waiting hopefully for the salmon to run well. His warning notice of the dangers of high tides did not go down well with local planners and had to be removed, but he was right to complain about the amount of detritus left by the sea on the road. This is still a problem and care has to be taken when driving to the pub. Birdlife has been a constant presence over the years and there will often be geese and the odd swan waiting outside to be fed. Thirty or forty swans and many more Canada geese are common and herons, cormorants and grebes often fish here. Swallows zoom in and out of the barn and nest to the rear of the pub in summer months. By 2010 the Golden Ball was in a

Interior of The Golden Ball

have been more pleased to hear the news that we had a saviour. Steve had moved to Mallorca in 2004 where he bought the Ship in 2007. Now with son Joseph and daughter Nicole he runs the pub as a free house and a new era has begun. With help from Stephen Gardener, the Council’s Conservation Officer, a new extension with a glass fronted balcony has been built, providing extra seating for diners and a function area for private events. A children’s play area has been added to the back and future plans for chalets providing holiday accommodation is a long term investment. Many regulars have returned and the pub is now settling in to be a wellsupported and happy venue. Jet and water skiers still tear up and down the river at high tide but the best time to be here is when the tide is out and the birds are working the shoreline. There are usually two draught beers on sale, Black Sheep and a Cross Bay beer. The pub has had a sympathetic upgrade inside, but many original features remain. We wish Steve and his family many happy years here. The pub seems set for a golden future, thanks to a wellrun campaign that saved it in the first place, and the efforts of the present owners to preserve and build on a precious piece of the area’s heritage.

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sorry state and CAMRA was fearful that it would close. It was up for sale for many months and Roy Denby, who managed the Three Mariners on the Quay, ran the pub on a part-time basis. We had a lot of fun trying to keep the fires burning as there was hardly any heating in the pub with it being shut during the week. The regulars decided that this was a battle that was not to be lost and with regular customer Russell Dunkeld from Overton setting up a Facebook page with 15,000 followers the fight was on to save this gem. He and I were happy to fly the flag with interviews with Radio Lancashire to keep the profile high. We had an excellent firework night on 6th November 2010 and many could also watch a bigger display across the water down near Lancaster Castle. Then news reached us that Stephen Hunt, former landlord of the Farmhouse Tavern, had bought the pub from Mitchells. It had been up for auction for £250,000 and had struggled to find a buyer, but we could not

CAMRA MEMBER DISCOUNTS LANCASTER • The Borough - £1 off a pint • Greaves Park - 30p off a pint • Lord Ashton - 10% Off** • Merchants - 10p off a pint • Moorlands - 10p off a pint* • Penny Bank - 10p off a pint • Robert Gillow - 10% Off • Tap House - 10% Off • Water Witch - 30p Off • White Cross - 10p Off

MORECAMBE • Royal - 40p off a pint • York - All cask ales @ £2 a pint GARSTANG • Wheatsheaf - 20p off a pint * The discount in the Moorlands is separate from accepting Wetherspoon’s vouchers - unsurprisingly the pub doesn’t give two discounts on the same beer! ** The Lord Ashton offers a further discount Monday to Fridays, between 3pm-6pm when 20% can be saved on draught real ale, real cider & the craft ale lines.

This list is probably incomplete. Send updates to editor@lunesdalecamra.org.uk Members need to be in possession of a valid CAMRA membership card to claim the discount Issue17 |

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Part of Tap House bar

“SUDDENLY THERE CAME A TAPPING... A TAPPING SOMEWHAT LOUDER THAN BEFORE” Steve Wright is raven about a new addition to the local beer scene.

hen you enter the Tap House a few things stand out that mark it out as special. For a start five shiny handpumps with pump clips for beers never seen before in Lancaster, and in its opening few weeks these have already stood out as offering something enticingly different. There have been modern legends like Thornbridge’s stunning Jaipur IPA (orangey rather than American or tropical citrus from the smooth but assertive hops perfectly balancing the malt and yeast: intangible genius in a glass). Other highlyreputed innovators like Harviestoun and Dark Star have made an appearance with more waiting in the wings, local innovators “Hardknott” (now in Millom after moving from Eskdale) who bring some American sensibilities about how to hop beers to their brewing. Locals like Old School and Kirkby Lonsdale are also represented. This is capped by the long-overdue and mostwelcome presence of the take-out jug with 2, 4 or 8 pint containers available to take these fine brews home with you. Either side are taps for keg beers which bear serious consideration and should be approached without prejudice as

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these are not mass-produced lagers but seriously inspiring craft beers. Liberty IPA from San Francisco’s prohibitionera survivors Anchor Brewery brings an American Citrus hop hit. There’s rich sweet Belgian ‘Kwak’ with its unique ‘stirrup cup’ that makes a ‘kwak’ sound when the bulb end empties. BrewDog have a tap as does Brooklyn Brewery’s superb rich, malty, Oktoberfeststyle Brooklyn Lager. The British craft lager revival is represented by Freedom’s “Freedom Four” organically brewed, properly lagered for 4 weeks then filtered but not pasteurised - Stella this AIN’T! Then there’s a great big beer fridge standing high and proud behind the bar. A fridge you can see in rather than having to crane your neck over the bar to get a look at. And it’s packed w i t h inspiring a n d varied beers f r o m around

nothing to inspire but nothing to offend. But décor is décor, pubs are about people and for those who have previously frequented the Furness College bar on the Lancaster Uni campus “back in the day” or went along to their superb beer festivals of yore, then seeing that the Tap House manager is Martin Hulland will be both a friendly face and reassuring indicator of a steady hand on those pumps. They’ve recruited young and enthusiastic staff – and the speed and genuine engagement with which they have been learning about the beers on sale in the few weeks they’ve been open has impressed me. It’s an auspicious start and hopefully (with apologies to Edgar Allen Poe) we can answer the question: will we ever have to suffer from a lack of exciting beer in Lancaster? As “…suddenly there came a tapping, ‘Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’”

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the world with welcome appearances from Norway’s Nøgne Ø. (My one complaint: all kept a little too cold as if these were cheap lager, but some can be brought up from the cellar if it’s not too busy and you ask really nicely.) With reductions for take-outs and great reductions on 6 bottles as well as the takeout cask and keg you can now take great beer home as well. The marketing line is misleading here: this is not a ‘shrine’ you take things to in mourning of something lost, it’s a beacon of great beer with offerings you can take home. However it’s the details which tell you something about the tap house trying to build a different relationship with their customers: There’s a blackboard listing the beers coming up and there’s a suggestions box. And those suggestions in that box, or via their active Facebook page and twitter feed, are being taken seriously with beer suggestions moving rapidly onto their “in the cellar” list. And round the side there’s a shelf of some really interesting and varied beer books. The décor is modern-neutral-withbarrels, there’s no singular unifying ‘style’

In his piece on US bottled beers in Issue 16 of the Drinker Steve Wright referred to the John 0’ Gaunt as a place where some are available. He in fact meant the Robert Gillow. Apologies to all involved – Ed.

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Moorlands, Lancaster

LOCALES AT THE LOCAL Martin Sherlock explains CAMRA’s LocAle scheme. “Localism” is all the rage at the moment, although many people lack a precise idea of what it is. The term applies to beer as much as anything else and with the growing number of micro-breweries almost every beer-drinker in England has at least one local brewery. Many who drink local beer have the idea it is a “greener” thing to do, though proving that a local pint is inherently better environmentally than one from further afield is not always easy to do. No, the benefits of local beer have to be sought elsewhere. To me, they revolve around the concept that beers and breweries “belong” in their local areas in a way they do not anywhere else. Part of this is down to the simple fact that they are usually owned and run by local people who (of course) drink in the local pubs. Brewers and their staff are much more accessible to local drinkers and local licensees, which means that brewers can find out directly what drinkers want, and can much more easily find and fix problems. Which should mean a better pint. Brewers can get out and explain to local beerdrinkers what it is they are trying to do. Which should lead to a 16

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better-informed public. The Campaign for Real Ale has always been in favour of local beer. This may come as a surprise to some who think of “CAMRA pubs” as bristling with handpumps serving ales you’ve never heard of from hither, thither and yon. I can’t deny that there is a tendency within the real-ale fraternity to go for the most obscure beers they can and few of us would want to totally renounce the excellent ales that come from Scotland and Suffolk, Worcestershire and Wales. It’s all a question of emphasis and the emphasis has lately swung back in favour of local. One way in which CAMRA is now supporting local ale is through the “LocAle” scheme. The idea is simple: any pub can be accredited to

rton

Malt Shovel, Wa

Interior of the Royal, Morecam be

The following pubs in our area have signed up to the LocAle scheme: • • • • • •

White Cross, Lancaster Water Witch, Lancaster Malt Shovel, Warton Royal, Morecambe Moorlands, Lancaster Royal, Heysham

More pubs will certainly be added to this list, check our website for latest additions, www.lunesdalecamra.org.uk

CALLING ALL HEROES The Morecambe Beerfest 2013 train is rolling out of the station en-route to an even better and more spectacular happening than the ﬁrst. Do you want to be part of it? We’ve a few posts that could do with filling such as Chairman, Minutes Secretary, Assistant Coordinator and Sponsorship and Advertising.

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LocAle if it always sells a local cask ale (it doesn’t have to be the same one all the time). You can recognise a LocAle pub by the publicity material around it, and the particular local ales are clearly labelled. We define a “Local Ale” as one from a brewery thirty miles or less away by road from the pub. You may not agree with this definition, but for this purpose we needed something simple and precise. If you’re anything like me, or even a normal human being, you won’t like all the beers labelled “LocAle”. But there’s enough variety here now that you must surely like some of them. With any luck, these will become old friends in a way that ales from far away never really can.

Some posts require CAMRA membership but some don’t so if you love beer, pubs and Morecambe, join us! Contact us via email: beerfest@ lunesdalecamra.org.uk Cheers, George Palmer

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As seen on ITV1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Dales

opub r c i M nug tion The Sat Carnforth Sta rinks D & Soft , Wine le A usic, T V l m a e s, ve R r, spirit ines No lagegaming mach We ser or

Open Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon - 2pm & 5pm - 9pm

Call: 07927 396861 Blog: thesnugmicropub.blogspot.co.uk Email: the.snug.micropub@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesnugmicropub

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Mike Steinberg on the unexpected delights of the new

made a return visit to Japan this summer and found myself in a quiet area of Kyoto where I came across a small liquor shop. I popped inside, as I usually do, to see if it had anything interesting. Now, by this point I knew most of the foreign beers that I was likely to find here, but I was surprised to find a new one. In this quiet little sake shop that sold the 10 Japanese common lagers and the usual international brews, I found a bottle of Samichlaus Classic Malt Liquor, 14%, from Austria. I thought it would be interesting to try it since I’ve never had a malt liquor before, but I was appalled at the price: £7.50. To my mind, a malt liquor is the cheapest kind of beer product available, lower in quality and cheaper to make than a simple pale lager. Therefore generally favoured by those who are financially limited but still want to get drunk. It certainly wasn’t something I was willing to pay £7.50 for and so the beer was discarded. Boy was I shocked when I found it in Lancaster - in the beer fridge at the Sun! Here was a beer I had not come across before, found for the second time in two weeks, and it had only been rated 8 times on Ratebeer.com. How could this unpopular, most likely poor quality beer find itself across the planet in the most

random of places? I knew that this time, regardless of the cost, I needed to taste it and see what it was. To my surprise I was charged the same £7.50. Pouring the beer, I truly expected it to be horrid. How could it possibly be good with the image that malt liquor has? Now, I would like to think I have an idea what good beer tastes like and this one was incredible: one of the best beers I have ever had. It needs to be aged for 5 years (the bottle says best before 2017 as a clue) and to be drunk with chocolates. Astonishingly this unpromising brew gave me a new insight into the complex world of beer definitions. What’s the lesson? Always try something new when you can. The name ‘Malt Liquor’ shows something strange about naming and laws in Austria as it is classified online as a German Doppelbock. Thus another lesson is: don’t believe the style on the label. It’s not a malt liquor as the name is understood now, in the way a barley wine is not a wine!

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GETTING LUCKY IN KYOTO

A REET GRAND DO S

kipton Beer Festival will run from Thursday 11th April to Saturday 13th April 2013, subject to budget approval. Keighley & Craven branch of CAMRA has already started making plans. The festival will be run similarly to previous festivals with about 60 British real ales on draught, real cider and perry, foreign bottled beers and British wines with quality food to complement the drinks. Customers will also be invited to support CAMRA by purchasing CAMRA books and other merchandise and by taking part in the prize draws.

The festival will be held in Skipton Town Hall on the High Street, 5 mins walk from the bus station or 10 mins from the railway station. Dales Railcard holders will get discounted fares. Skipton Beer Festival has a tradition of including sheep in the logo (Skipton is derived from Sheep Town) and 2013 is no exception. The theme will be “Ewe in 7th Heaven”. We hope to have souvenir merchandise available at the festival. To keep up to date with plans as they progress go to: www.skiptonbeerfestival. org.uk or call the Branch on 01756 796167. Issue17 |

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The Old Neptune, Whitstable

BEER & NOW Julian Holt is hopping mad (still)

’ll own up: I’m a hopeless hophead. In this column a few years ago I tried, in a piece titled Hopping Mad, to pinpoint what started me on a lifelong quest for true bitters: “I had a privileged childhood: I grew up next to a hop garden. As for education, while some may boast of Eton or Harrow, I attended the East Kent Golding public school of hop picking, where enrolments were taken every September and the “students” were mainly from London’s East End. It was one of the formative experiences of my life. Well, nowt’s changed. I love the many fine ales to be found in our Lunesdale area, but I suggest that few of them (with the exception of some from Hawkshead) have the intense, but not overwhelming, bitterness that marked many beers in the past.” Of course, serving a beer through a tight sparkler doesn’t help. A thick creamy head may be attractive, and is the way most Northern beers are served, but it masks hop bitterness. Just ask to have your pint pulled without the sparkler and you’ll see what I mean. It’s a sort of taste liberation. Anyway, a recent brief visit to my old stamping ground reassured me that God exists and is busy with his disciples in the brewhouses of Kent and Sussex. Together they are turning out excitingly bitter beers that reassert the finest (and simplest) traditional values of brewing. If you’re ever in Whitstable, don’t miss

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a visit to the Old Neptune, a fabulous sea-front Shepherd Neame house with a curved wooden bar, bare floors and boarded walls. Now I love Sheps beers, especially the “nicely aggressive bitter” (GBG 2013) Master Brew, but Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter - my favourite beer bar none - was also on, so there was no contest. Very rich and rounded for 4%, with a great hop nose and prominent hop bitterness. Drinking Harvey’s in the Neptune while a fiery November sun went down into the sea was close to heaven for me. (Oh, and Lightnin’ Hopkins was on the juke box. Even closer to heaven, then.) In Canterbury at the Old Brewery Tavern, a bustling multi-roomed establishment, I sampled Gadds’ 4% Pale Ale made with malted rye and Kentish hops at Ramsgate Brewery. This beer was a revelation - hugely hoppy with floral notes and a long bitter finish. Best find in Canterbury was the Foundry Brew Pub, home of Canterbury Brewers, where a host of cask ales and four steam beers were available. Sue had their 5.8% Street Light Porter (“toffee, chocolate, with a licorice finish…top marks, absolutely beautiful”). I stuck to my bitter quest and went for the Haka, brewed (surprise, surprise) with New Zealand hops, a 4.1 reddish amber beer, exceedingly hoppy. There is space to mention only one other beer – the best of the trip next to Sussex Best. At the City Arms, a second Canterbury Brewers’ outlet I drank

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another Gadds’ beer, this time the 4.3% Seasider. This had astonishing body, again with intense hop presence but also rich fruit notes. A beautifully rounded, clean tasting bitter. Kent microbrewers, like most in the real ale community, like to brew a full range of beers, including the tad exotic. But when it comes to bitter they stick to a simple format, which involves making use of local raw materials, especially traditional Kentish hops Fuggles and Goldings. (The brewery notes on Gadds’ 5% No 3 premium pale ale refers to Goldings hops “grown on Humphrey’s farm just down the road.”) In recent years bitters generally have lost a lot of real hop character (i.e. bitterness) and even classics like Holt’s are not as fierce as they once were. Where hop character remains it is often of the citrus variety – boringly so in some cases. True bitterness is actually multi-layered and complex, with different characteristics in the nose, the mouth feel and the finish. It’s the mark of all the best pale ales and bitters, and Kentish brewers do it best of all. Still.

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